Tensions worsen between senators

O'Hare debate highlights rift

December 24, 2001|By Mike Dorning, Washington Bureau.

WASHINGTON — After three years of carefully nurturing a cordial public relationship, Illinois Sens. Peter Fitzgerald and Dick Durbin are now embroiled in a bitter public rift that features charges of double-dealing and sour grapes.

The catalyst was Democrat Durbin's recent attempt, blocked by Republican Fitzgerald, to cement into federal law the terms of a recent state-city deal on expansion of O'Hare International Airport.

Fitzgerald, a staunch critic of O'Hare expansion, says Durbin tried to muscle him into laying off when the proposal came up for a vote. Durbin accuses Fitzgerald of going back on his word to refrain from using parliamentary gimmicks to block a vote.

The public break has highlighted the underside of a relationship that has always been wary and, during the past year, included plenty of friction beneath the surface.

The recent dust-up started with an attempt by Durbin to lock in the terms of the O'Hare deal worked out between Mayor Richard Daley and Gov. George Ryan. Durbin tried to attach the agreement to a military spending package, only to have Fitzgerald stall the effort with a lengthy speech attacking the airport deal.

With Democratic Party leaders eager to pass the military funding quickly, Durbin backed off. But he then accused his home state colleague of a double cross by breaking a promise not to filibuster.

Fitzgerald maintains he broke no promise and accused Durbin of being a "sore loser."

In an interview, Fitzgerald said Durbin tried to pressure him into essentially taking a dive on a campaign promise to wholeheartedly oppose expansion of O'Hare.

"A few weeks ago, he told me not to embarrass him on the O'Hare issue because it would threaten our relationship. I took that to mean don't oppose me on this or, if you do, let your opposition be token," Fitzgerald said.

Durbin denies saying that.

"That conversation never took place," Durbin said. "I knew his opposition to O'Hare. All I asked him for is an honest up-or-down vote. He said he wouldn't filibuster."

Lincoln Library fight

On the surface, the dispute seems an eruption between two affable men who regularly trade warmhearted banter at joint appearances, such as the weekly constituent breakfasts they host for visiting Illinoisans.

But several congressional observers of the two men and their staffs describe a deterioration in their relationship that began last year with a Senate floor fight Fitzgerald waged over federal assistance for the planned Lincoln Library in Springfield.

The library was a cherished goal for Durbin, a history buff and former Springfield congressman who had worked on behalf of the project for more than a decade. And though Fitzgerald framed the issue as an attack on Ryan's stewardship of state funds, a last-minute demand the senator made to impose federal competitive-bidding rules on the project caught Durbin off-guard.

"He was furious about it," said one House member. "Peter told him one thing and did another."

There has been continued friction this year between the two senators' staffs over allocating public credit for congressional appropriations to fund local projects. Staff-level agreements later have foundered. And tensions have grown since early summer as the controversy over O'Hare expansion headed toward the Senate, congressional sources say.

"If this was a Middle Eastern confrontation, you'd be using analogies like `death by a thousand cuts,'" said one Washington lobbyist. "There are just countless stories that are told about Durbin's staff thinking they had an agreement with Fitzgerald and it didn't hold."

The cooperative public relationship the two senators have maintained has suited both their political interests so far. In a closely divided Senate, each has gained an ally in the other party in pursuing local projects of mutual interest.

Working together for now

Now, it is unclear how their relationship will unfold. The two senators said they plan to continue with an agreement that allows each a role in choosing federal judges in the state. And even amid their public dispute, the two senators have been coordinating a joint effort to stave off a shutdown of a veterans hospital in Chicago.

Fitzgerald dismisses any notion the contretemps will affect his ability to accomplish goals for the state. "In Congress, alliances and oppositions are fleeting," Fitzgerald said.

But Durbin signals wariness of working with Fitzgerald. "I think it will be more difficult. But I'm still going to try," Durbin said. "We've had an unfortunate experience, and I may do some things differently now."

Pressed for a fuller explanation, Durbin responds with a folk tale: "If a cat jumps on a hot stove, it's not going to jump on a hot stove again. But he's not going to jump on a cold stove either. That's all I'm going to say."